Local News Summary of August, 12th

Man attacked in Klingentalweglein: witnesses sought

The police are looking for witnesses after a man was attacked in the Klingentalweglein by a group of people and a dog.

Last Friday after 4.30am, a 33-year-old man was attacked in the Klingentalweglein by several persons and a dog. He was hurt in the process. The police say the 33-year-old was walking with a friend along the Rheingasse towards theKaserne at 4.30am on Saturday morning when he saw someone he knew having an argument with a group of people. When he tried to step in and help, he was suddenly attacked by the five men, as well as a bulldog with black and white fur. The perpetrators then fled in the direction of Kaserne. An immediate police search wasunsuccessful. The victim had to be treated in the emergency department of the hospital.

No information is available on the two other people involved. According to the victim, themen were all Sri Lankan nationals. The exact circumstances and reason for the attack have not yet been clarified and are the subject of ongoing investigations by the criminal police. Anyone who can provide relevant information is asked to contact the criminal police of the Basel-Stadt public prosecution on phone number 061 267 71 11 or go to their nearest police station.

Federer against Gojowczyk or Sousa in Cincinnati

Roger Federer will return to the ATP Tour at the Masters 1000 tournament in Cincinnati next week when he plays against either Peter Gojowczyk (Germany) or Joao Sousa (Portugal). The only match so far between Joao Sousa (ATP 63) and Roger Federer was won by the Swissplayer in Halle in 2014. Federer has never played against Peter Gojowczyk (ATP 48) in his career. If the Basler wins his first game after his quarter-final loss in Wimbledon (against Kevin Anderson), he could meet Andy Murray in the third round. The Scotsman was equipped with a wildcard for the last big tournament before the US Open (from August 27). The last match between Federer and Murray was exactly three years ago. In 2015, the Swiss won the semi-final in Cincinnati in two sets.

Wawrinka against Schwartzman

Stan Wawrinka meets Diego Schwartzman (ATP 12) in the starting round. It will be the firstmatch with the Argentinian for the player from Valais, who has dropped to 195th place in the world rankings and, like Murray, will also be equipped with a wild card. Rafael Nadal was not drawn in the same half of the table as Federer and Wawrinka. The Spanish world number 1 starts in the second round against the Canadian Milos Raonic provided he wins his first round match against a qualifier. Novak Djokovic (ATP 10) and Grigor Dimitrov (ATP 5) are also divided like Nadal in the upper half of the table.

In Swiss women’s tennis, Belinda Bencic and Stefanie Vögele have to get through the qualification stage.

Construction machine set on fire in Reinach

The Baselland police are looking for witnesses after a dumper truck was deliberately set on fire at a construction site in Reinach in the early hours of Saturday morning. The fire brigade was dispatched at 2.16am, after a call came in to the police operations control centre in Liestal about a fire at a new apartment building in Landhofallee. When the fire brigade and Baselland police arrived, the truck was already fully ablaze. The fire brigade was quickly able to extinguish the fire but the construction machine was a total write-off.